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Sheldon vs. sexual harassment policy on The Big Bang Theory

Alex finally made her move on Leonard and it set off a chain of events during which Sheldon's plain speaking got him in hot water with human resources.

When Sheldon hired his assistant Alex it sent a shudder down the spines of the ladies of The Big Bang Theory.

Who was the pretty and brilliant Alex after? Amy presumed it was Sheldon, of course.

When it became obvious it was Leonard, Penny experienced something very unusual. She got insecure and jealous.

Never thinking she had to worry about Leonard straying, she realized that her disdain for her man's professional endeavors might make her vulnerable. Read: New Hottie Stirs Things Up."

It came at a time when Penny wasn't sure she was still interested in Leonard for the long haul. It got her juices flowing and led to the episode when she blurted out the "I love you" admission.

As noted here in the past, the writers have yet to get us back to that awkward moment when Penny didn't want to "talk about it" and fled the scene.

In last night's episode, "The Egg Salad Equivalency" Alex asked Leonard out and the nerdy scientist was giddy with delight, while quick to say no.

Sheldon gathered the ladies together as his council to determine how he should handle his employee's proposition. In doing so, Penny was outraged and returned to her insecure state.

He chose to formally warn Alex about inappropriate discussions in the work place, but in doing so engaged in some inappropriateness of his own.

"Your ovaries are squirting so much goofy juice into your brain you don't know which way is up," he began. You get the picture.

Irony and nuance are not Sheldon's strong suits so when Alex complained to HR and Dr. Cooper got called on the carpet, he continued to make matters worse with the department head, played by Regina King in a cameo performance.

"According to Miss Jensen you said that she was a slave to her biological urges and called her an egg salad sandwich," the HR exec told him.

Dr. Cooper commenced digging a hole for himself. "Oh I see, Alex thought I was singling her out. No, I meant that all women were slaves to their biological urges, even you. You're a slave."

It led to him fingering his three nerdy colleagues, all of whom were called in for a talking to.

That meant more fun for Leonard as Penny engaged in a little role playing using big black eyeglasses. Watch video clip posted below.

Do we really have to wait for season's end to find out if Penny and Leonard will make this all official?
This weeks' message: Just because you don't understand the vagaries of employment law doesn't mean you aren't subject to it. Sexual harassment policies are difficult to interpret for some. For others however, they are just common sense.

Comments

Great recap; this episode was hilarious, especially with Sheldon’s harassment issues. I wasn’t able to watch it live because I was working late at DISH when it first aired, but I caught it on my DVR. The Big Bang Theory is set to auto-record on my DISH Hopper along with the other primetime shows on the four major networks using PrimeTime Anytime, so it was easy for me to watch the episode even though I forgot to set a timer. And while I loved Sheldon’s difficulties in this episode, I hope the show addresses Penny and Leonard’s relationship in the next few episodes instead of leaving us hanging.